Mind Candy
by OhTex
Summary: Fred isn't happy when the Doctor neglects to tell her it's Christmas Eve in her own timeline. A fluffy, Christmassy friendship plot with a hint of romance! 11/OC. The third in my 'Mind...' series.


Disclaimer: _I don't own Doctor Who. This is just for fun!_

**Author's Note: **_I just thought I'd do a little Christmassy 11/Fred one shot because I really like writing them together! This is the third in the series (after Mind Squeeze and Mind Altering). Reading the others would be appreciated but you can probably read this without them. Hope you enjoy this!_

* * *

**Mind Candy**

"Doctor! It's bloody Christmas Eve!"

The Doctor glanced up at the young woman storming down the steps toward him and coming to a stop by the T.A.R.D.I.S. console. He took a glut of his tea which had been balancing precariously on one of the switches and grinned.

"I know! Isn't it brilliant? I love Christmas! You humans are so good at festivity."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Fred asked, her green eyes wide.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Fred exploded. "It's Christmas sodding Eve and I haven't got any presents for anyone!"

"Oh." The Doctor said, sounding a little sheepish.

"Take me to Earth. My own time. Now." Fred pushed her brown waves out of her face and glared. The Doctor crumbled.

"Ah. Right. Yes, of course. Off we go then!" He frantically tapped on the typewriter, twisted the hot and cold taps and finally, with a flourish, hit a large chrome lever.

* * *

"Oh, Jesus, it's snowing!" Fred shrieked. Several shoppers turn to gawp at her and she realised how odd she must look: tumbling out of a Police Call Box and yelling about the snow. She nudged the Doctor who was desperately trying to push her out of the door so he could get a look. "Get back in!" She slapped his hands that were on her hips and shoving her out of the door. He yelped and she smirked in satisfaction.

"What was that for?" He asked when they were both back inside, clutching his hands.

"You kept trying to shove me out the door! It's freezing out there and I'm wearing this!" She grabbed a handful of her short red dress and wafted it at him. "I'm not going out there in this." And with that, she shot up the stairs and out of sight, presumably toward her bedroom on the second floor.

When Fred returned to the console room ten minutes later, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen but the front doors of the T.A.R.D.I.S. were slightly ajar. She sighed and trotted down the steps, wrapping her leopard print fake fur coat around her red dress which she had kept on but had added a pair of thick black tights and a pair of flat black boots for warmth. She slid out of the door and her feet made the snow crunch. Now she was all wrapped up and warm, she could enjoy this properly.

Now to find the Doctor. She could hear a scuffle behind the T.A.R.D.I.S. and wandered around to see what it was.

"Doctor, what the – "

But she was cut off by a huge snowball hitting her square in the face. She stood, stock still with shock and the cold, and heard a chortle of triumph before the Doctor came into view, grinning goofily, his bowtie all lopsided.

"Sometimes, I think I actually hate you." Fred said, scraping the snow off her face. The Doctor laughed again and this time she couldn't help but laugh with him. "I'll get you." She promised. "I'll get you when you're least expecting it."

"I'm always expecting it." The Doctor responded quickly, enjoying the banter that was always present between them. "You can't surprise me. I'm unsurpriseable."

"That's not a word."

"It is now I've said it."

"Just because you've said it, doesn't mean it's now a word."

"Yes it does."

"No it – oh, I haven't got time for this!" Fred exclaimed, panic overtaking her once again. "I've got to buy presents for everyone today and you're going to help me."

"Me?" The Doctor blanched. Shopping wasn't his thing. Life and death situations, ship breakdowns, desecration of alien races? All yes. Shopping? No. Definitely not his thing.

"Yes you. It's the least you can do. Were you even going to tell me it was Christmas in my time?"

"Yes, of course I was!" The Doctor defended himself, looking hurt. "Tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow? I couldn't buy presents then, could I?"

The Doctor frowned, not seeing the problem. "It was going to be a surprise."

"A surprise?" Fred said, laughing incredulously before glancing at the Doctor. He looked genuinely disappointed that she had found out. Fred felt her frustration melt immediately as it always seemed to with the Doctor. She smiled and linked arms with him and he brightened a little. There was a pause as they began trudging down Hereford's high street.

"Sorry." Fred said finally, squeezing his arm that she had linked her own through. "I know you were just trying to be nice and give me a lovely surprise."

"Yes I was."

Fred bristled. _God, he was so stubborn and sulky._ She sighed before noticing that the Doctor was smiling slightly as he watched some of their fellow shoppers. Ah, a good sign. He had nearly finished his sulking and was about to come out of the other side. Sometimes, it was like living with a toddler.

She squeezed his arm again and they both carried on walking down the street, peering into shop windows and weaving through frantic shoppers.

"How did you find out it was Christmas anyway?" The Doctor broke the silence a moment later, his tone normal again.

"Oh, the 21st century Earth calendar in the T.A.R.D.I.S.' system." Fred said causally, leading the Doctor into a huge shop packed full of clothes and accessories.

"The calendar in the T.A.R.D.I.S.'s system?" The Doctor repeated with a frown of confusion. "How did you get into that?"

"I just used the keypad by my bedroom door. There's one on every door, Doctor. Honestly, she's your ship –"

"I know about the keypads!" He cut across her as she seized a red basket, plopped a satin top and a handbag inside it, and hooked it over her arm. "You just shouldn't be able to access the T.A.R.D.I.S. system on there; you should only be able to open doors."

"Well, you can access the system on there, can't you?" She asked distantly as she examined a long dress hung on the shop wall.

"Of course I can! You just shouldn't be able to. She only lets me do that." The Doctor said, trailing her as she wandered toward the back of the shop, her basket already half full with potential Christmas presents.

"Oh, Doctor, stop fussing." Fred sighed. "It's not like anything bad's happened is it? Maybe the T.A.R.D.I.S. just likes me." She winked cheekily and seized a pair of sunglasses off the stand.

"Hmm, I think she does. It's been a long time she's opened up her system like that to someone other than me..." he trailed off and watched a woman try to restrain her child from pulling all of the shoes off the stand.

Fred squealed suddenly and the Doctor jumped. "What? What, what, what?" He asked quickly, expecting to see a sign of immediate danger approaching them.

"No, nothing bad!" she reassured him, beaming. "It's just...this is where we first met! Remember?" She wafted the sunglasses at him and he beamed too.

"Oh, yeah!" He grinned, completely forgetting their previous conversation. He grabbed the glasses and shoved them on haphazardly before turning to the mirror beside them. "I _do_ look good in these, don't I? I was right to get that pair last time." She pulled them off him and threw them into the basket as well.

"What do you mean, 'get' them? You stole them!"

"Unintentionally!" The Doctor replied quickly. "You distracted me!"

"What, with my incredible beauty and charm?" She joked, glancing at him over her shoulder as she wandered toward the shoes.

"Er, yes. Something like that." He answered, sounding uncomfortable with her joke and a slight flush rose up in his cheeks. Fred noticed but said nothing. Feeling suddenly flustered herself, she grabbed some sensible brown heels off the shelf.

"These'll be great for my mum." She shovelled them into the basket too which was now almost over-spilling with presents. "Come on." She seized his arm. "Let's go pay."

* * *

"Surely that's the last one now?" The Doctor asked, exhausted and bored with their shopping trip two hours later. Fred rummaged through her bags, murmuring the names of people she had bought presents for.

"Yep, I think that's it!"

The Doctor whooped with joy and practically dragged her out of the little shop they had found only ten minutes before. He had just started leading the way back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. through the snow when Fred called him back, gesturing to a coffee shop.

"Let's go in here!" She called. "I'm starving!"

The Doctor sighed but agreed and strode towards the cafe door and held it open for her as she struggled through with of her bags weighing her down. They stood in the queue and Fred fumbled for her purse.

"You're not much of a gentleman are you? You didn't even offer to carry one of my bags."

The Doctor shrugged, grinning and squinted at the menu. "Are we having tea?" He asked.

"Of course we're having tea! We're the tea twosome."

The Doctor chuckled and so did she, both enjoying the relaxed atmosphere that had settled between them after their momentary awkwardness earlier.

"Hi, what can I – bloody hell! Fred!" The man behind the counter, whom neither of the time travellers had paid any attention to, leaned forward and grinned at Fred.

"Oh my God, Guy!" Fred exclaimed too, an expression of happy surprise on her face as she reached over the counter to embrace him. "I totally forgot you work here! How have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I'm great, just great!" The man, Guy, responded, a pleased smile on his undeniably handsome face. "Where have you been for months?"

"Oh, I've been travelling." Fred answered with her usual response. After all, it wasn't a lie. It was just the truth simplified. "With him, actually." She gestured to the Doctor. "Guy, this is the Doctor. Doctor, this is Guy, an old friend of mine."

"Great to meet you, Doctor." Guy said eagerly.

"Er, yes, yes. You too." The Doctor said, much more hesitantly, whilst carefully eyeing the man before him with a slight air of annoyance.

"Well – er – why don't you two just take a seat and I'll come over with some tea and cake in a minute?" Guy suggested, only seeming a little put off by the Doctor's hostility.

"Oh, that'd be great!" Fred gushed and began to pick up the bags that cluttered around her feet.

"I'll carry those." The Doctor said quickly, seizing them and glancing at Guy.

"Oh. Right, thanks."

* * *

"Oh, isn't Guy lovely?" Fred said as they made their way back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. an hour later, the Doctor carrying her bags again.

The Doctor responded with an uncharacteristic grunt. If Fred noticed this, she showed no sign of it.

"He's very handsome isn't he?" She gazed at the sky, which was now dusk and the stars were appearing as if by magic. This time, the Doctor didn't answer and busied himself with finding the key. "Makes me wonder why I spilt up with him..."

The Doctor spluttered suddenly, still struggling with the key and the bags.

"Oh, sorry!" Fred said, interpreting his splutter as a cry for help. She took the key and unlocked the doors before holding them open for him.

The Doctor grumbled and dropped all the bags on the floor by the console. Today hadn't been his favourite day. His very own T.A.R.D.I.S. had ruined his Christmas surprise, he had been dragged around an obscene amount of shops for an obscene amount of time and then, to top it all off, he had been forced to spent an hour with Fred and Guy laughing and joking and retelling old stories of nights out and discussing mutual friends. Guy was slimy, the Doctor decided, ignoring the fact that there was no evidence to suggest so. He was just about to ask Fred if she wanted him to help her take all the presents up to her room, when he realised she hadn't followed him in. Then he heard a giggle from outside and he frowned.

It was Guy, wasn't it? He probably followed her to sneak a Christmas kiss from her and try and steal her away. Well it wasn't going to work. Oh, he was _definitely_ slimy! The Doctor charged down the steps and out of the door, determined to ruin the moment. He heard another giggle from behind the T.A.R.D.I.S. and he rounded the corner, a horrid, angry feeling clawing at his stomach and tearing both of his hearts.

"Fred I –"

He was cut off by a huge snowball colliding with his face. He scraped it off and saw her, bent over double with laughter. She was completely alone. Guy wasn't hiding out here, stealing kisses off her. She had been out here waiting for him, the Doctor. He felt stupid but couldn't stop the huge sense of relief crashing over him. He laughed too.

She made her way toward him, still weak with laughter.

"I'm sorry!" She spluttered. "But I thought you were 'unsurpriseable'!"

"I am. Usually." He replied with a smile, shaking the snow off his face rather unsuccessfully. She grinned, gently wiped the snow off his face with the sleeve of her coat. She was so close; he could feel her breath on his face.

"There." She said finally, meeting his gaze but not taking a step back. He couldn't tear his eyes from her.

"What?" She asked softly, her tone light but her eyes dark. He said nothing and found that he desperately – _desperately_ – wanted to close the small gap between them but felt that he didn't have the nerve to do it. To his surprise, she did.

Fred glanced above his head and smiled slightly before brushing his lips with hers so softly the Doctor felt like he was going to fall over. When she did it again, he reciprocated, making the kiss more forceful and more demanding. She broke away first, breathless, her eyes still dark and shining. They gazed at each other for a moment more before she stepped back.

"Come on you." She said, her voice still soft. "You have to help me wrap all those presents." She brushed past him and disappeared inside, leaving the Doctor still rooted to the spot. He shook himself and turned to follow her inside when he saw it. There, hanging above his head, was a piece of mistletoe. He frowned, wondering how it got there.

"Hello again, old girl!" The Doctor heard Fred greet the T.A.R.D.I.S. and, oddly, he could tell the T.A.R.D.I.S. was greeting her too.

He grinned. Yes, the T.A.R.D.I.S. liked Fred and he rather did too. With one last look at the mistletoe above his head, he followed his companion inside and closed the door.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that!

Please leave me the Christmas gift of a review! I'd be ever so grateful!


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